Villa hold off Lille fightback to take narrow lead to France

Aston Villa will take a 2-1 lead to Lille next week after emerging from their UEFA Europa Conference League first leg with a hard-fought victory at Villa Park.

Ollie Watkins was on the scoresheet yet again with a towering header, and captain John McGinn bagged Villa’s second with a curling shot from the edge of the box, with both goals coming from set-pieces.

But Villa did not have it all their own way against an attacking Lille outfit who forced Emiliano Martinez into a string of top saves, and also saw a goal ruled out by VAR for an extremely narrow offside.

And the visitors did finally bag the goal that their efforts deserved, with Bafode Diakite heading home from a corner to make it 2-1 on the night and keep the tie alive going into the second leg.

The winners of this tie will face either Olympiacos or Fenerbahce in the semi-finals, with the Greek side 3-2 up after their home leg of that tie.

Lille had no intention of turning up in Birmingham and parking the bus, committing a ton of players forward with an extremely attacking approach that posed Villa a lot of problems.

Chances flowed at both ends as a result, making for a high-paced and slightly chaotic match that could and should have yielded for more than just the three goals.

Villa may have the lead in the tie, but they now know that Lille have the attacking game to cause them serious problems in the second leg.

Villa played some good football on the night and carved out some great opportunities of their own, but it was the ‘keeper Martinez who had the biggest impact on this tie, making a string of superb saves to deny Lille.

During the first half in particular it was remarkable how often the visitors were able to open up Villa’s usually stingy defence, only to then be denied by the final line of defence.

Lille have some serious attacking talent and Martinez may need to bring his best again in the second leg if Villa’s European run is to continue.

Aston Villa: Martinez 9; Konsa 6, Diego Carlos 6, Pau Torres 7, Digne 6; Tielemans 7, Douglas Luiz 8; Bailey 7, McGinn 8, Rogers 6; Watkins 8. Subs: Zaniolo 6, Diaby 6, Duran 6.

Lille: Chevalier 8; Tiago Santos 7, Diakité 8, Yoro 7, Ismaily 7; André 7, Bentaleb 8; Zhegrova 6, Haraldsson 8, Gudmundsson 8; David 5. Subs: Yazici 7, Gomes 6, Cabella 6, Ribeiro 6.

13’ – GOAL! ASTON VILLA 1-0 LILLE (WATKINS)

The corner is deep towards the back post and Watkins meets it with a booming header that crashes into the back of the net. Lille protest about blocking off in the box, but the goal stands and Villa have the lead that their strong start deserves. 1-0.

56’ – GOAL! ASTON VILLA 2-0 LILLE (MCGINN)

It’s a second for Villa and it’s the skipper who gets it. A corner routine picks out McGinn on the edge of the box, and he picks out the bottom corner with a lovely shot. 2-0!

A deep cross picks out the run of the unmarked Gudmundsson, who volleys first time past Martinez to score the goal that Lille really deserve for their efforts. Is it offside though? VAR has a look, and after a lengthy check the decision is offside. What a huge let-off for Villa.

84’ – GOAL! ASTON VILLA 2-1 LILLE (DIAKITE)

Lille are back in it and deservedly so. A corner is whipped into a dangerous area and Diakite meets, sending his header into the far corner. That’s kept this tie very much alive, and Lille will be pushing for more.

Ollie Watkins’ goal was his 25th of the campaign.

This match was Villa 100th in UEFA competitions.